An estimate of the radiological consequence of notional accidental releases of radioactivity from a fast breeder reactor

In this report an assessment is made of the radiological consequences of notional accidental releases of activity from a fast breeder reactor under certain circumstances. It was prepared under contract to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (Health and Safety Executive) to assist them in making a preliminary safety assessment of fast reactors. The range of releases considered in the report was specified by the Inspectorate and comprises the vaporisation and release of varying fractions of the core of a 1300 MW(e) reactor. Two cases are evaluated depending on assumptions relating to the remainder of the core. No attempt is made to assign any probability to the occurrence of a given release; the report provides no more than a part of the information necessary for a safety assessment and is to be considered only within this limited context. The subject is dealt with under the following headings: introduction; parameters used in the assessment; atmospheric dispersion; pathways of exposure and dosimetric models; doses associated with the release of one tonne of fuel; biological effects; consequences of releases in which the nuclide composition differs from that in the fuel. (U.K.)